The Fix

Don’t have time to search out this week’s essential MP3s, streams and viral videos? That’s why we’re here.

Lily Allen “I Don’t Know”
The British pop tart gets serious on this leaked demo, contemplating her place in the world over a not-too-solemn synth score: “And I am a weapon of massive consumption/ It’s not my fault, it’s how I’m programmed to function.”

(via Fabulist)

Nine Inch Nails “Discipline”
After getting something like 17 albums of instrumental music out of his system, Trent Reznor returns to making manic electro-noise-pop on this track. The best part is that he’s giving it away for free.
(via Nine Inch Nails)

Scarlett Johansson “Anywhere I Lay My Head”
Produced by TV on the Radio’s David Sitek, featuring cameos by David Bowie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and comprised entirely of songs written by Tom Waits, actress Scarlett Johannson makes what is possibly the first credible album by an actor. Ever. Here’s a taste.
(via Bring Me Up)

No Age “Eraser”
Sub Pop continues on its quest to sign on all the world’s most interesting bands. This Los Angeles fuzz-rock duo’s stratospheric tune must be the reason why.
(via Pop Head Wound)

Santogold “L.E.S. Artistes”
This week’s totally awesome ’80s throwback comes via Santi White, a sartorially savvy Brooklyn musician that records under the name Santogold. With M.I.A. producer Diplo at her side, she blasts hipsters while simultaneously offering them a wicked future anthem.
(via Captain Obvious)

Vampire Weekend: “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Black Dominoes Remix)”
It seems like we weren’t the only ones thinking Vampire Weekend’s take on Paul Simon’s Graceland album would sound a lot better with a twist of random noise and dash of Latin space.
(via Pretty Much Amazing)

Shinichi Osawa: “Star Guitar (ft. Au Revoir Simone)”
The Chemical Brothers’ best song gets a rough-hewn remake and becomes even better. Well, almost.
(via The Yellow Stereo)

Bloggers are bloggin’. Magazines are writin’. Newspaper editors are yellin’ “Stop the presses!” What’s the good word? Apparently, vinyl is back! Vinyl records–seven-inch singles and twelve-inch LPs, and all the in-between formats–are back in vogue. Turntables are once again being produced for a market more than willing to snatch them up, plug them into their USB ports, and digitize their collections. Speculators are out there, digging through the crates at stores, flea markets and yard sales, their eyes and hands serving as some manner of divining rod that’ll net them a solid return on investment via eBay.

The resurgence of public interest in vinyl resides primarily in circles of independent artists and labels positioned outside of the traditional music industry, as well as those within who are looking for some leverage against the slump in CD sales, stemming from the surge in both the sales of electronic media and the act of illegal downloads. Last year, the U.K.’s legendary and forward-thinking Southern Records launched a vinyl-only label, Black Diamond, with its first release by indie underdog P.W. Long, God Bless the Drunkard’s Dog.

Vinyl, you see, is the peoples’ medium. Rejected by an industry that once held it as its backbone, it’s become the mouthpiece of counter-culturists, DIY lifers, and the disenfranchised. It’s a format that’s breathed life into genres like punk, garage, and power pop both in their infancy and in each of its revivals. It’s been used by artists with voices as strong as their marketing savvy to improve their own individual outlooks on how to gain notice and operate as their own self-sufficient entity–see Superchunk or the White Stripes for a concrete example. As a used medium, it’s even sweeter: fans can purchase classic albums for pennies on the dollar, eschewing technological advances for an unbeatable bargain.

Vinyl’s also a medium ripe for exploitation. With the sales of music declining across the board, pressings of new records have dropped significantly, upping the collectability factor. Being in the right place and time counts in such matters of hoarding, and a group of would-be “blue chip” record collectors have proven that a rare record is a rare record, be it old or new. Thus, we have a fairly unscrupulous set of diggers out there who are driving up prices on desirable releases, the revenue from which is rarely seen by the artists responsible. This sword has two edges; witness the recent vinyl/data disc box set release of Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV, limited to 2500 copies, priced at $300 a pop, and sold exclusively by Trent Reznor’s web operation. It’s great to provide superfans with such an intimately packaged artifact, but to blow past the standard price point for such a release by about $200 raises questions about the nature of music as a commodity.

As the technology and formats of music delivery continue to evolve, vinyl is somehow still a player. Whether or not younger generations without the sentimental association will embrace it as a valuable or interesting option remains to be seen. Still, if you stumble across a turntable in a thrift store for $10, you might want to pick it up.

Doug Mosurock will be leading a panel discussion about the vinyl revival at Austin’s SXSW this Saturday, March 15th at 12pm in room 15 of the Austin Convention Center, joined by panel of independent label personnel, distributors, and record store owners to discuss the current state of vinyl, where it might go from here, and if there’s a chance that the format that started the music industry might be able to save it after all.

Trent Reznor has made good on his promise to never work with a record label again (sorry, Interscope and parent company Universal Music Group), and shown the world that you can give songs away and still make a profit off downloads.

Ghosts I-IV was released March 2 via the Nine Inch Nails website, torrent sites, Amazon MP3, and is still up at The Pirate Bay .

With this release, Reznor did it all: the music, the packaging, setting the price (36 songs can be yours for just $5, but there are download packages for every wallet size), and setting up extra servers to deliver to his fans. And if, for some reason, you have a problem downloading via the NIN site, look around on the internet. Free downloads are available and Reznor encourages you to take what you want.

The NIN Wikipedia entry notes that in September of 2007, “Reznor continued his attack on Universal at a concert in Australia, urging fans there to ’steal’ his music online instead of purchasing it legally. Reznor went on to encourage the crowd to ’steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin’.'” His primary complaint was that Universal stood in his way of creating an interactive fan site on which users could remix his tunes .

Ghosts I-IV was made easily available for “stealing,” and yet fans, recognizing the collectability, bought up all 2500 of the extremely limited edition of Ghosts I-IV–which gets you four 180 gram vinyl albums, two CDs, art removable for framing, a Blu-ray disc, and tons of extras, all numbered and signed by Reznor. At $300 a copy, this is no entry-level purchase. Fans committed and proved Reznor right.

Always known as a studio recluse, Trent Reznor has finally outed himself as a near-classical composer–his latest album has 36 tracks broken into four segments, with zero vocals. Guess he can say everything he wants with a drum machine.

Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective–dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

Seth Colter Walls of Newsweek described the album as “the kind of absorbing musical experience that the surviving ranks of know-it-all record-store clerks would be pushing on customers, if only they could offer it for sale.” Reznor has allowed fans to bypass the store and the monolithic labels of the past.

Don’t have time to search out this week’s essential MP3s, streams and viral videos? That’s why we’re here.

Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk” on “Saturday Night Live”
See what happened when the overhyped, vaguely ’80s Paul Simon-loving collegiate rock band appeared on NBC’s overhyped, vaguely ’80s Paul Simon-loving collegiate sketch comedy show. Hint: The world did not implode.
(RedLasso)

Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV
Trent Reznor is giving away the first quarter of Nine Inch Nails’ new instrumental album, aka Ghosts I, for free on his website. Unless you’re a fan of moody instrumental music with plinky piano melodies and random bursts of white noise, you might very well be getting what you pay for.
(Nine Inch Nails)

Cat Power, Black Session
The new covers album might be a bit on the dull side, but this slow-burning live set from France is a revelation, showcasing the return of Chan Marshall’s incredible voice and her new nice and easy live persona.
(Sixeyes)

Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
The latest project by mournful, gender-bending torch singer Antony Hegarty is not what you might expect. It’s a horn heavy electro-pop seemingly made for Project Runway finales and flashback parties.
(MySpace)

Whiskeytown, “16 Days”
Hear what Ryan Adams sounded like before the ego took over. This sweet, country-flavored tune comes from the excellent reissue of his former band’s album, Stranger’s Almanac.
(Aquarium Drunkard)

Liam Finn, “Second Chance”
Dad was the lead singer of Crowded House. Liam Finn inherited the sweet voice and knack for knockout melodies, but on this track from his debut album he shows a wild inventive streak that’s clearly all his own.
(Spin)

R.E.M., “Supernatural Superserious”
A return to form? Not quite, but better than anything the veteran Georgia rock band has done since at least the time Michael Stipe started wearing that blue streak across his eyes, complete with roaring guitars and classic harmonies courtesy of Mike Mills.
(Sell the Lie)